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By Jake Offenhartz and Claudia Lauer

The Associated Press

In the moments before聽the cargo ship Dali聽rammed the Francis Scott Key Bridge and sent portions of it crumbling into the water, a flurry of urgent warnings crackled over radios and enabled police to block motorists from traveling onto the span, likely saving lives.

But those warnings seemingly didn鈥檛 reach聽the six construction workers聽who were killed in聽the March 26 collapse聽of聽the Baltimore bridge. Their deaths have raised questions about whether the construction company took proper precautions such as stationing a safety boat that might have been able to issue a warning at least a few seconds before impact.

Federal regulations require construction companies to keep such boats, commonly known as skiffs, on hand whenever crews are working over waterways, safety experts told The Associated Press. There is no indication that the construction company, Brawner Builders, had a rescue boat on the water or ready to be launched as the bridge fell.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e working over a bridge like that, the standard interpretation doesn鈥檛 give you an option,鈥� said Janine McCartney, a safety engineer for HHC Safety Engineering Services Inc. 鈥淭he skiff is required, period.鈥�

Coast Guard representatives and other officials said they were unaware of any Brawner boat in the water at the time of聽the collapse. And satellite images from around the time of the collapse appeared to show no skiff in the river near the bridge.

Even if the workers had been warned that聽the giant ship聽was about to hit, it鈥檚 unclear if they would have had enough time to scramble to safety.

The archived recordings of the bridge鈥檚 maintenance radio channel from early that morning include only one minor exchange between two maintenance workers about the approaching ship, though it鈥檚 unclear if either was on or near the span at the time. In the exchange, a man with a muffled voice seemed to ask what was going on, and the other replied, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just holding traffic because a ship lost its steering; that鈥檚 all.鈥� The bridge collapsed less than 30 seconds later.

But if a safety boat were present, experts said, its personnel might have been able to use a marine radio and required walkie-talkies to warn the construction workers about the Dali鈥檚 distress calls, possibly giving them a chance to act. Authorities say a construction inspector was able to run to a section of the bridge that didn鈥檛 collapse, though it鈥檚 unknown what warning, if any, he received.

A Brawner representative declined to comment for this story, saying the company is focused on taking care of the families of the workers, who were filling potholes on the bridge when it collapsed. Brawner has used safety skiffs for work on bridges in the past, according to a deposition of a company executive who was part of a 2011 lawsuit.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations say construction companies performing work over waterways must have at least one safety boat available. OSHA officials have said in rule聽interpretations聽over the years that the required boat can 鈥渆nsure prompt rescue of employees that fall into the water, regardless of other precautions taken to prevent this from occurring.鈥�

An OSHA spokesperson didn鈥檛 respond to repeated requests for clarification on that regulation.

Some states have rules clarifying that safety boats aren鈥檛 required under certain conditions, such as when the work being done is contained within the guardrails of a bridge. But Maryland isn鈥檛 among them and does require that a safety skiff be present when workers are over or near water. A spokesperson for the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health, which oversees compliance with federal labor regulations, declined to comment on the Key Bridge collapse or Brawner鈥檚 safety record, citing the open investigation into the tragedy.

Dennis O鈥橞ryan, a maritime lawyer, said he believes the skiff requirement remains in effect even when there is little risk of drowning unless the company secures an exemption from the state.

鈥淚f there was a skiff there, it would have heard the mayday call and radioed the workers to get off the bridge,鈥� O鈥橞ryan said. 鈥淭here needs to be an investigation into whether the skiff was there and if not, why it wasn鈥檛.鈥�

O’Bryan isn鈥檛 representing any of the families of the workers who were on the Key Bridge when it collapsed. But in 2011, he represented a Brawner employee who was injured while operating a safety boat meant to monitor workers on a bridge. The lawsuit accused the company of not properly staffing the boat. It was settled for an undisclosed sum.

The AP requested a copy of the safety plan that Brawner submitted for the Key Bridge project, which was among more than 25 contracts worth a total of more than $120 million that the state awarded the company in the past five years. The request was still being processed as of April 2.

Brawner has been cited three times for seven safety violations since 2018, including four citations for failing to provide proper fall protections, OSHA鈥檚 online enforcement records show. The company was fined close to $11,000 in informal OSHA settlements.

Several project foremen interviewed by the AP said that despite OSHA鈥檚 strict interpretations, it is not uncommon for construction companies to forgo the use of a safety skiff on jobs that don鈥檛 pose an imminent risk of drowning, and it鈥檚 unclear when the regulation is enforced. In the past decade, there has been just one violation issued in Maryland during a bridge construction project for failure to provide a life-saving skiff, according to a review of OSHA records available online.

Some construction experts said a boat wouldn鈥檛 have made a difference because of the steep drop, the little time the crew had to react, and the tons of steel and debris that made it incredibly difficult for even trained rescuers to locate and reach the missing workers鈥� bodies.

鈥淵ou can have the most perfect safety plan and safety measures in place, and unless you have time to implement them, then who knows,鈥� said Julio Palomo, president of Laborers International Union of North America Local 11, which represents Maryland and other parts of the Washington, D.C., area. 鈥淲ould it just have put more people in danger having that boat in the water? We just don鈥檛 know.鈥�

Others, though, said a safety boat might have had a better chance to issue a warning over a direct radio line to the crew, something companies could consider when writing future safety plans聽in light of the Key Bridge collapse.

Ryan Papariello, a safety and health specialist with the Laborers鈥� Health and Safety Fund of North America, said that in safety plans for work on bridges, companies should think about including flotation devices and clear communication with the Coast Guard or anyone patrolling the water. He also said plans might include the use of specific loud noises that signal workers to evacuate.

鈥淥bviously this wasn鈥檛 a foreseeable incident,鈥� Papariello said. 鈥淎 lot of the contractors that we see 鈥� and I鈥檓 not blaming the contractor 鈥� they just don鈥檛 have a valid rescue plan in place.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: Associated Press reporters Rebecca Boone and Mike Catalini contributed to this story.